After a long harsh winter with virtually no fishing (mostly hunting), this past weekend offered an opportunity. My wife and I were attending a marriage retreat in Pigeon Forge (which is about the only reason I will enter that horrific area), and I had some free time on Sunday after it concluded. I had been looking at the weather and thought it looked as if it may be getting favorable for a Quill Gordon hatches to begin.

Once the retreat adjourned I had our bags and gear packed up and ready to go, but realized that I had not yet purchased my 2014 license yet. So, a quick stop by LRO was in order to pick that up and then off to the river it would be. However, upon arrival at the shop Daniel presented me with a very interesting proposition. They had recently gotten in a 7'-6" 4-wt Orvis Superfine Glass rod and he asked me if I wanted to take it out and give it a go on the river. Originally, I hesitated, but quickly caved as I thought about this opportunity. So, once Daniel had the rod packaged up we were off for a quick fishing trip, as I only had a couple of hours to spend before we needed to head back into Knoxville.

About the only time of year that I will even consider fishing roadside is in March during the Quill Gordon hatch, and most other times I prefer to be somewhere a little more remote to avoid all the tourists. When we pulled up to the spot I had intended to fish, the water looked excellent. However, there were some ominous clouds overhead and the wind was beginning to pick up.

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I got the rod rigged up and chose to use my own Orvis BBS II reel instead of the one at LRO, and on the first cast discovered just how sweet of a rod this is. It is a medium action rod with a full flex that allowed for effortless casting.

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I actually began to see a few QG's coming off in the first little run I was fishing, but the trout were showing no interest. So, I changed over to a QG wetfly with a BHPT dropper. That was the ticket as I got a strike on the very next run swinging the flies in an across and down presentation. Unfortunately, this approach typically gives me some difficulty getting a solid hookset, and that little guy quickly came unbuttoned.

Thankfully, just a few more yards downstream I managed to bring in the first trout of the day.

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It was quite nice to feel a tug on the end of this sweet little rod, and get my first fish of the year to hand. At this point, I would have actually been content to just call it a day after only about 15 minutes of fishing. However, I chose to take advantage of the opportunity and continue on at least while the wind was still allowing me to fish some.

So, I continued on fishing downstream (my preferred approach when swinging wetflies), and managed to stick a couple more trout but once again they came off before bringing them to hand. Eventually, I came to a very nice long sweeping run with an undercut bank along the outside. I just knew there had to be something in there, so I carefully crawled up to it and presented my fly. I gave it a good long drift and then began to swing so that it kissed the edge of the undercut bank. That is when I saw a flash and set the hook into a much more hefty fish. The full flex glass rod doubled over and I saw a large shimmering body come near the surface but not out of the water. I quickly landed this guy and tried to snap a picture, however he had other plans as he managed to squirm free from my hand and drop into the water. The only shot I got does not display the coloring on him, but you can see most of his 10" length. Definitely the largest rainbow I have caught out of the particular stream I was fishing. Shortly after landing this guy the frontal system moved into the area and brought heavy winds that were making my casting a little difficult.

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While the QG's were not popping in large numbers, they were beginning to make their debut when I called it quits around 12:45 to begin our drive back to Knoxville. In a little over an hour of fishing I managed to land two rainbows and let a few more get off while swinging flies. Plus the water levels looked awesome! Unfortunately the crazy winter appeared to have taken a toll on the trees lining the streams in the park as there were a lot more deadfalls in places that I typically have not experienced any. I don't know how this short cold snap is going to affect the QG and Blue Quill hatch, but it should be "game on" in the next couple of weeks.

http://knxtravis80.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v101/p632790280-3.jpg

HuskerFlyFisher

03-03-2014, 11:49 PM

Nice report! Can you explain a little more about how you fish downstream with the wet fly? Would you do it this way for nymphs too? Trying to learn all I can!

Sandman

03-04-2014, 12:37 AM

I was up there Sunday and saw bugs everywhere. I also noticed that the trout had no interest in rising to gordons. I did get a dry fly strike on a black caddis however…made me miss the whole dry fly thing. I'm excited for spring…it's so close.

SmokiesSpeckSlayer

03-04-2014, 08:51 AM

nice report! its gettin to be about that time..

duckypaddler

03-04-2014, 09:13 AM

Nice post thanks for sharing!

Once those Rainbows get to be 8+ inches they really do want to get free and are plenty strong enough to get their way most of the time:smile: Be glad you got the shot you did.

So you are the guy always fishing downstream making it hard on the rest of us:rolleyes:. Hide beneath the cover of a marriage retreat, only to turn into a "swinger" the moment the class lets out. Shame on you:eek:

MadisonBoats

03-04-2014, 09:18 AM

Excellent! Great that you made the most of your opportunity and thanks for sharing the day! Love the Glass rod! Reminds me of my all time favorite; the "Wonderod"..:biggrin: However; I expect the Orvis to cast 100x better...
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o11/Glastik/1949Wonderod1190L.jpg

ChemEAngler

03-04-2014, 02:25 PM

Nice report! Can you explain a little more about how you fish downstream with the wet fly? Would you do it this way for nymphs too? Trying to learn all I can!

Husker,

Personally, I only swing wet flies, but know some guys who swing nymphs. Instead of my trying to explain in words how to do it, just do a search on either youtube or vimeo for swinging wet flies and you will find numerous videos.

Keep in mind that Quill Gordon nymphs hatch along the bottom of the stream and then swim to the surface to eventually dry their wings. This is different than many other mayfly species present in East TN, and that is the reason a swinging wetfly presentation is so effective during this hatch. Give the link below a look as it gives lots of explanation about the Quill Gordon species.

So you are the guy always fishing downstream making it hard on the rest of us:rolleyes:. Hide beneath the cover of a marriage retreat, only to turn into a "swinger" the moment the class lets out. Shame on you:eek:

Guilty as charged!

buzzmcmanus

03-04-2014, 08:22 PM

Nice! Glad you was able to sneak out for awhile. It's been so long, I forget where I last put my fishing stuff.

chechem

03-05-2014, 11:27 AM

Thanks much. I'm about ready for a weekend trip that way too.
Sick of work; sick of winter!

NDuncan

03-05-2014, 12:57 PM

I was up there Sunday and saw bugs everywhere. I also noticed that the trout had no interest in rising to gordons. I did get a dry fly strike on a black caddis however…made me miss the whole dry fly thing. I'm excited for spring…it's so close.

Grey Neversink.... They were going nuts for it on Sunday afternoon

softhackle

03-07-2014, 03:20 PM

Nice report glad to see the Quill Gordons are coming off now. I've had that same issue too of flies coming off, the fish coming up for them and showing no interest in my dries. I learned to pay more attention to riseforms and realized the fish were taking the emergers. From there I learned that swinging a wet fly in front of rising fish was a very effective method to use during a hatch.
I've also had the same problems with missing hookups. Every time i would get a strike my natural reaction was to pull back and raise my rod. I missed a lot of hook ups that way. I solved the problem by keeping my rod tip down and pulling back on the line and sweeping the rod to the right or left. This greatly improved my hookup ratio
Swinging wet flies has become my favorite method of fishing hence my screen name. Almost forgot what did you think of Orvis glass rod? I've been thinking of buying an 8' 5 wt. myself Superfine Glass Rod. Kudos to Little River Outfitters for letting you take it out for a test run.

ChemEAngler

03-07-2014, 04:28 PM

Swinging wet flies has become my favorite method of fishing hence my screen name. Almost forgot what did you think of Orvis glass rod? I've been thinking of buying an 8' 5 wt. myself Superfine Glass Rod. Kudos to Little River Outfitters for letting you take it out for a test run.

SH,

I typically use a TFO 7'-3" 2-wt finesse rig when fishing in the park, unless I am throwing big junk in the winter. So for reference, that is what my comparison is based on. I have to say that the Superfine Glass Rod was an absolute joy to use. Casts were effortless, and the full flex action was very smooth. Also, when I hooked up with the larger trout, the deep bend that it put into the rod also made fighting the fish a pleasure. If you are in the market for a full flex sweet casting rod, I don't think you can go wrong with the Superfine Glass rod.